Act of Valor - 4/5

This movie is remarkable in that its ‘larger than life’ parts are the accurate ones and it’s the interpersonal drama, if anything, that feels less believable. The main stain on this film is the acting, since so many of the main cast is playing themselves and aren’t professional actors, but since that’s the main draw of the film the criticism only goes so far. The production values are up to the task of portraying modern military maneuvers, which helps make up for the acting and cookie-cutter plot.

Content warning: torture

Closest comparison: It’s like Kampen om tungtvannet (1948) by way of American Sniper.

Setting: Military
Plot: Military
Tone: Military

Rush Hour 2 - 2/5

This movie makes the classic sequel blunder: it has less of what made its predecessor great and more of what brought it down. There is only one good action scene here, instead of the three to four in Rush Hour 1, and they’ve ramped up the stupid humor to give Chris Tucker more of a driving force in the narrative than before. They’ve also introduced a whole theme of ogling women in their underwear, bringing down the quality of the film making even further. The martial arts scene is really well done, but the rest of this movie is pablum.

Closest comparison: It’s like the martial arts of The Medallion pasted over with the raunchiness (but not the humor) of History of the World part 1.

Setting: Buddy Cop
Plot: Buddy Cop
Tone: Brash Comedy